In this April 17, 2018 photo, Dr. Awwad Alawwad, the Saudi Minister of Culture and Information, tours the King Abdullah Financial District Theater a day ahead of the first public screening of a commercial... (Center for International Communication via AP)

(Newser)
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The lights dimmed and the crowd of men and women erupted into applause and hoots as Hollywood's blockbuster Black Pantherpremiered in Saudi Arabia's first movie theater. Though it was a private, invitation-only screening on Wednesday evening, for many Saudis it marked one of the clearest moments of change to sweep the country in decades, the AP reports. It's seen as part of a new era in which women will soon be allowed to drive and people in the kingdom will be able to go to concerts and fashion shows, and tuck into a bucket of popcorn in a cinema. "This is a historic day for your country," Adam Aron, CEO of AMC Entertainment, told the crowd at the screening. "It's been about 37 years since you've been able to watch movies the way movies are meant to be watched in a theater, together on a big screen."

Authorities said the public would be able to purchase tickets online on Thursday for showings starting Friday. But there may be delays. Movies screened in Saudi cinemas will be subject to approval by government censors, and Wednesday night's premiere was no exception. Scenes of violence were not cut, but a final scene involving a kiss was axed. Still, it's a stark reversal for a country where public movie screenings were banned in the 1980s during a wave of ultraconservatism that swept Saudi Arabia. Many Saudi clerics view Western movies and even Arabic films made in Egypt and Lebanon as sinful. Despite decades of ultraconservative dogma, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has pushed through a number of major social reforms with support from his father, King Salman, to satiate the desires of the country's majority young population. Click for more on the cinema (which includes prayer rooms) and plans for more theaters.